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Despite being delayed six times so far, Ubisoft co-founder and CEO Yves Guillemot is highly confident in Skull and Bones, so much so that he is tempting fate, invoking the dreaded "AAAA" moniker. The last developer we can recall doing that was the ill-fated Striking Distance Studios with The Callisto Protocol, a game with a sad ending.
Guillemot made the comment during a Q&A session conference call (thanks, VGC), discussing the company's Q3 sales for its fiscal year 2024. One knowledgeable caller suggested that Skull and Bones appeared to be following a live-service format (recently revealing a Year 1 Roadmap) and asked why Ubisoft insisted on charging $70 when a free-to-play model might be better suited.
Guillemot asserted that the scale, complete nature, and level of polish and quality deserved a $70 pricetag, which might be the most hubris we've seen from a CEO recently. He proudly proclaimed: "You will see that Skull and Bones is a fully-fledged game. It's a very big game, and we feel that people will really see how vast and complete that game is. It's a really full, triple… quadruple-A game that will deliver in the long run."
It remains to be seen how Skull and Bones performs in these uncharted waters, but an open beta is running this weekend, ahead of the game's full launch next week, on 16th February on PS5. Either way, we won't have much longer to wait to learn the veracity of Guillemot's claim.
Are you checking out Skull and Bones this weekend? Are you expecting a level of polish and technical wonder beyond the humble AAA industry standard? Make a sign to ward against bad luck in the comments section below.
[source videogameschronicle.com]
Comments 88
Any CEO who uses the idiotic "AAAA" term unironically should be publicly shamed like in Game of Thrones.
I am so glad I have never bought a Ubisoft title since Far Cry 5. "Quadruple A" Shut up.
"AAAA" doesn't exist and if it does then Ubi are going to lose a lot of money on this game.
Kinda love how Helldivers 2 a mid budget £35 live service game is going to be more successful then Suicide Squad and S&B despite being cheaper and having less budget compared to them.
qUaDrUpLe-A qUaLiTy
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Quadruple A? Where have I heard that before? Hmmm...
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I SMELL BULLSH*T
Maybe it improved somehow from the betas I did. It looked great but the gameplay loop was soul crushing grinding to do ANYTHING.
The AAAA moniker is so corny.
AAAA my ass, give me Rayman Origins 3. Then we'll talk.
It doesn't matter how many A's they add on I'm not buying it.
AAAA? Sure and my cat can recite the Gettysburg Address.
Well as Perfect Dark remake, the only other AAAA game we know about, has been in development hell for years, this seems like a perfect moniker for Skull & Bones as well.
We spent AAAA money and can't explain it any other way.
Someone has to put Western game execs on like, a leash or something
Honestly they needed to sell this alot cheaper. The microsoft event is next week where theyl probably announce games coming to PS5 and one of them is sea of thieves which will take any interest away from this game. Heck ubisoft already did that by announcing the Black Flag Remake.
Also from what I've seen this a (terrible Jim sterling impression) Triple Aaaa Liiiiive Service. Not AAAA. Thats the sound i make when i stub my toe
I confess. I snorted when i read "AAAA" quality. From Ubisoft no less.😂
70 for live service. Hope this goes the way of Suicide Squad and Avengers. For 70 we want full games
I can not say about the gameplay currently. But the graphic of this game is just crap. It looks like a late PS3 game and is definitely not worth that high price.
They might as well say “$70 because we got to recoup all the money spent on this game”
it's a game from hell. he is just trying to recoup the 10 years of development costs that were squandered on that garbage. nobody cares, it will bomb.
If even Sony wouldn't refer to any of it's first party games as "AAAA" what make this guy think his crappy pirate game deserves that moniker? I hope it flops harder than Babylon's Fall, Mr. Guillemot needs to be brought down to earth with the rest of us
You know they overspent on this game and its going to flop hard.
AAAA 😂😂😂😂
It looks just like the sailing bit from Black Flag minus the rest of the game. After playing Sea of Thieves, this looks to have the mechanical depth of a puddle
I'm not paying $70 for this junk and the servers will be shut down in less then a year.
I played an hour of the beta and already a checklist of issues.
It's just Skulle & Bones, so just bury it all ready...
Why stop at 4 A’s and not just go to 5?
Any GaaS cannot be rated more than C. But Ubi starts to be the biggest bunch of liars. Are they preparing to step into politics?
Well if it was an open world game with lots of lore and completely on a disc for offline play ubisoft I'd by it ,but when you say get used to not owning your game that's ok you keep it.
Played an hour of the beta last night. Most definitely not a AAAA game. AA at best. I won't be buying it at full price (never do with anything), might pick up a bundle on deep sale in the future.
Live service?
At full price?
Lol. No thanks.
They're just begging to get meme'd to death with that AAAA comment, especially considering this game's trajectory.
When has any Ubi games been AAAA. so your telling me, this is the best Ubi game ever developed. Awful smell around here.
@Danloaded I hear Jim's voice every time I read "live services" and is half the reason I put it in quotes.
I cannot stand GaaS. It's one of a few things that's just terrible about the gaming industry.
He's allowed to sell his game to the price he wants, then the market will judge. Don't see the reason to "defend" the pricetag.
there will be zero people online playing it after 2 years...mark my words
And like 99% of live service games, Skull & Bones will be as playable as a parent yanking out the plug in the bathtub on their little kid playing with their bath toys too long & the water going cold when Ubisoft deem the game servers "unprofitable".🙄
@Savage_Joe mega lol!! I couldn’t agree more
Just wait till it goes on sale like every other Ubisoft game.
Maybe AAAA means more towers to climb compared to the paltry number of towers in an AAA game?
AAAA is a cringey moniker, and doesn't fill me with confidence about the quality of the game.
aaaand just like that I'm not interested anymore. lol.
It is always online? Does it cost me more than £0? Exactly what it's worth when the servers get inevitably pulled. No thank you.
It's a Ubisoft game, no one is paying £70 for it when it will be on PS Plus the same as all other Ubisoft games within the next year or two. If it's even still going by then.
I keep seeing the name of it floated around but have never bothered looking into it? Is it literally just the 'at sea' elements of AC Black Flag? Like, is that it?? The whole premise? No land elements at all?? Sounds like it would get boring very quickly.
£50 for the game they cut content out of £75 for the full game but if its Live service and the service can be shut off at any time leaving you with nothing the game is worthless just like anything else that you pay money for and get nothing in return
Just remembered that Assassins creed in London
Well he's daft then, it's a AA at best, I enjoyed what I played of it , but started to get bored after an hour , seems like I was sailing forever with nothing to see or do, it looks and plays like some indie game.
AAAA is just the noise he will make when he sees the numbers 😱
It could be GOTY and still not for me.
Played some of the beta and I liked the start of it because of AC Black Flag and seeing the sharks. But then after a while I have decided it's not for me. There's nothing "AAAA" about it.
Pretty game to look at in the background and water but the character looked like plastic. The hair is terrible and the gameplay feels boring. From what I played so far it just feels like a fetch this and fetch that game
The suit has spoken. His multimillion dollar salary and multimillion dollar bonus tells you it's worth the money even if it's not.
Take off 2 A's and that's more like it.
I tried the beta last night for an hour and surprisingly enjoyed what I played. I couldn’t find the wood needed for a ship though even though I went to the icons on the map. Is it a case of other players grabbing it first and I have to wait for it to spawn back?
Quadruple A, eh?
To be fair, since the comparison was made, The Callisto Protocol was a ‘AAAA’ game in terms of actual QUALITY, but it underperformed in terms of expectations and wasn’t as fun to play due to the clunky melee based combat the game relied so heavily on. But as far as graphics, sound, environment, responsiveness of the controls, etc? Yeah it was solid as a rock.
I'm enjoying the open beta 🤷 I got ubi+ so I'll definitely be giving it ago
I mean, dozens of people all over the world are really excited for this game.
I was looking at sales recently, and found that games from From Software, even the old ones, never go below 50% off and retain their value for years. In contrast, all Ubisoft games have deep sales, like 90% off, with some games reduced from $70 to a couple of bucks. Is it how you treat your AAAA production? Is it so bad that they don't even have the value of a candy bar?
Code for, its microtransaction hell and we desparately need you to buy this game to recoup the 10+ years of development time we poured into a product we should have cancelled.
Uh, does Ubi not know that we've played the beta / trial? Loved the subheading. Sums it up.
Why does quadruple A just read like a scream?
I really want to know what aaaa quality is
All reports so far from those who've played the open beta point to it absolutely stinking like a pirate's crotch. That's what they get for doubling down on Live Service. They should have just made a single-player pirate adventure with a multi-player feature.
This is the same idiot who recently said that gamers need to get used to not "owning'" their games after making a decision to deactivate several games. I'm playing the Beta and I do like it, but it is not worth the price tag. It's a very repetive live service formula of just running back and forth and doing the same things over and over to improve your ships and standing. It's good mindless fun, but I don't see it lasting in the long run.
Well when you have a contract with the government of Singapore to have a subsidised game studio in the country and therefore whatever that game is has to come out.....after so many years of development hell I'd be gassing it up to to try and recoup ANYTHING at all.
So, obviously it is not AAAA. I think the CEO is communicating to his own employees, if this tanks there will be layoffs because it wasn't the game you promised to deliver.
Skull & Bones is gonna bomb so hard. Lol. 😂
It's more like BBB or CCC, but if you ask me it's UGHH. Not that it is day before class bad, it's just... like if max 10 people was working on it. It's basic and kinda ugly. 9 years of development and we get this? it should be a top notch, red dead clone single player game with a massive multiplayer section to be AAA...
It’s awful, dull and boring. Gameplay is boring. Missions are boring.
Ah yes AAAA
*Awful
*Atrocious
*Abominable
*Amiss
That's what he means.
Ridiculing the "AAAA" aside, there is definitely a huge challenge within the industry right now when it comes to making games.
Fact is, games are getting bigger, taking longer to develop, overheads are increasing and we're at this frankly irritating point in time where developers are forced to take shortcuts (I.e. bulking out content with boring chores) and/or having to increase revenues (in-game transactions and paying for additional core gameplay).
Difficult to see a solution... feels like we're in a really bad spot where games are frankly unimaginative and boring/samey. How do we take things to the next level without increasing the cost of the software to the end consumer?
The type of game I want Skull & Bones to be... I just don't see how they can ever deliver it without charging more for the game.
There is also the issue of time. Developers are still churning out a high volume of games despite the longer lead times in development.
Honestly, I want the industry to move on to developing fewer games that actually push the boundaries and bring some wow factor. This generation is getting a nasty reputation of being underwhelming and boring. Games have too many limits on them and I'm convinced it's all driven by price.
I literally tried this Demo last night for 10 minutes, Its all I could last, does every single character HAVE TO SHOUT AT ME IN MAX VOLUME AT ALL TIMES. Along with Foamstars this will be dead in the.... water (ahem) by the end of its year long support cycle.
@Konks
As is every Ubi game lmao
@PaperAlien
Ubisoft always has to do everything overly cool and relatable. They always fail miserably with their dialogue.
I've played Division, Steep, Crew and the new AC games with voice volume on mute and decided I'll never pay for a Ubisoft game ever again
@MidnightDragonDX Please record it, so I can show my cats they really are lazy🤣
I can't wait for AAAAAAAAA games that are well worth 3 times the price of the console they run on, but still fully broken.
Not interested in “live-service” games.
Got burned with Anthem, thank you very much.
I would happily have paid £70 for a full game. But I guess software developers do not make those any longer.
Pity.
I’m sorry to say but black flag is a better pirate game than skull and bones.Ubisoft devs we love you guys but put skull and bones on the back burner for nice try and keep it moving…..enough said
only one important game this month and it aint this
It is deffo AAAA.
AAAAbsolutely not buying.
The current bunch of greedy clueless idiots in charge of the industry need sweeping away the last 10 years has been a slow decent in quality and depth and replaced by shallow money grabbing nonsense.
Oh yeak worth 70 bucks sure. I remember a game called "ANTHEM!". GOOD LUCK EA ! Oopsss ubi.
The same man who said learn not to own games??
Ubisoft: Zombi U flopped we need more money from Rayman Legends. All our games must sell.
Ubisoft: Skull and Bones is 4X A. Aka we wastes too much money, we didn't listen to what GT5/Last Guardian/Duke Nukem Forever or other games with such budgets, levels of perfection, changes that had to be made and time it took.
Yeah no Skull and Bones they wastes too much money, it's not even the game AC4 was and they tried to expand on it, they want it to be a good game but it's so flat in game design besides it's visuals, physics and more. Do they know how fun boat combat is not always, or quests, or other things.
Let alone how niche it is (I am ok with niches, or just something a bit different even if another pirate game and details, trends to follow and some gameplay is limited compared to others to make some goals 'fun' or two games+ in one due to character, vehicle and other controls I get that) as people play human characters (or deva got bored of vehicles on games other than for transport so a more vehicle focused game is good to see but most people don't care I assume so.......) or want player control us racing fans enjoy cars but some of us enjoy not just our dream cars but good game modes/events not being bored with nothing interesting to do with them.
So sometimes more cars means nothing if the modes lack or suck aka I don't care if your physics, tire wear and way it moves on the road is accurate or you sell me individual assets in some racing Sims. I'm not interested I want a complete enough product and to have fun. Appreciate the game design.
I'll play a cartoony game any day and less realism and voice acting and whatever if I have fun. No matter how mature and cartoony or family friendly and cartoony/let alone realistic.
I'll play an animal for the moveset before I care about some human character and whatever boring dialogue and other details, quests, they have because gameplay over anything. Level design and setting sure but gameplay not whatever looks good, sounds good, dialogue said I don't care about.
I think Ubisoft forgot what fun looks like. Too much boat accuracy by their devs holding back a bit too far at times when sometimes they were probably good enough quality details in the game for some decisions made then then actual fun factor pushed out the window.
Let alone yes avoiding other game releases too yes.
I'll stick to other games.
I didnt know Ubisoft were capable of making even a single A quality game.
I automatically associate Ubisoft with convoluted garbage. Big scale, poor quality.
Naughty Dog and Insomniac, those are AAAA studios.
There are many indie games that look more polished than AC Mirage.
I kind of feel pity for Ubisoft because they produced good games in the PS2 and PS3 era. Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell, Etc..
I am willing to give this game a chance but $70 is way too much.. if it was a MMO with some sandbox type of gameplay joining crews and all that it might to me be worth a shot.
I want to give Ubisoft the benefit of the doubt and hope they can get demonstrate their love in the game. I’m also looking forward to StarWars Outlaws..
If Ubisoft don’t pull off as they promise they may be some mass layoffs coming from them.
I played this demo all day… this game is pretty awesome. I just wish there was land combat and you could jump off the boat anywhere on land as well and could free roam more. The water and sailing in the zoomed in view is pretty fun as well as the bot combat. I think I would get it on discount eventually…. I keep trying to sprint and roll it feels like half a game but what is there is amazing.
If like ghost of Tsushima had this whole game play of sailing added into it then it would be amazing.
It’s like a really pretty farming simulator of building a boat and fighting with it. Very fun but I wanna go stealth ninja as well.
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